James Lockman's Technical Blog

Posts tagged "InCopy"

From time to time, customers ask me how to use Version Cue with Adobe Creative Suite 5. Version Cue is not a platform that Adobe will support going forward, but for now, there is at least a means of using Version Cue CS4 with Creative Suite 5. Drive 2 is available now and is out of beta. Get it here.

Most recently, I had a customer ask about how to migrate their Version Cue CS2 workflow to a Version Cue CS4 and Creative Suite 5 workflow.

To migrate, you’ll need to go from VC CS2 to VC CS3 and finally to VC CS4. There isn’t a direct migration path from CS2 to CS4. You can migrate from CS2 to CS3 from the server administration panel’s Advanced section, and this is best done on the machine where the new server is running.

Once you’ve done that, install Drive 2 on your CS5 machines. Browse to your VC CS4 server and log in to your projects. You will be able to check content in and out from the desktop and from within CS5 apps. In addition, if you would like to use Bridge with VersionCue CS54 then you will need to enable VersionCue support in Bridge. After you install Drive2, you’ll see the following message when you start Bridge:

You can enable or disable Drive2 in Bridge later if you want to. Go to Bridge’s preferences, and disable the Drive 2 Startup Script. Once installed, you will have access to the inspector Panel. The metadata explorer is off by default, but you can enable it in the preferences as well.

Having done that, you will now have a new panel in Bridge that lets you access projects through Drive 2. Click on Drive 2, then click the Connect To.. icon in the Content panel.

Then, enter the URL and credentials for your server.

Once you’re connected, then you can then browse your Version Cue CS4 projects in Bridge CS5. In addition, you can show versions, examine metadata, check out files and check in new versions. You’ll be able to use Version Cue directly from within InDesign, InCopy, Photoshop, and Illustrator. You’ll also be able to view versions and check files in and out from Bridge and the desktop.

To open/check out project files from within CS5 applications, simply browse to them in the Drive 2 folder that will appear on your desktop when you log in to your server.

It is interesting to note that Drive 2 allows you to check any file type into and out of a project, not just Design application files. You can manage versions of Flash Builder files, for instance, or even your Office documents. It’s a very versatile solution for small workgroups.